Now and Then
by EMY3K
Summary: A friend from the Turtles' past comes back in need of their assistance
1. Heart of a Child and a Mother's Care

Prologue

Donatello lay asleep, safe in his bed. In his dreams, however, he was far from it.

He was in a cage and not a very big one at that. It was only about three feet tall and five feet across. The room was dark and cold. His brothers were in adjacent cages to the left and right of him. He could hear his brother Michelangelo sniffling next to him. 

Donatello's five-year-old body tensed every time he heard footsteps. The footsteps got louder and louder. He could hear slight pounding on the locked metal door. Suddenly the door creaked open. Donatello tensed. Was it one of Them?

A head slowly came into view. A body followed as the figure partially closed the door behind him. 

"What's going on?" Donetello's older brother, Leonardo, asked.

"Shhh," the figure whispered. "It's only me, sweetie."

Donatello instantly recognized the voice. It was Elena. She was a big kid, in her teens probably. Donatello and his brothers had met her the first night they came. She had shown them a kind of love that even their sensei and father had not been able to provide. The four brothers had liked her right away.

Elena crept forward and unlocked Donnie's cage.

"Come on," Elena reached her arms into the cage to help the small turtle out.

Then she proceeded to help his brothers out. She had to carry Raphael. The bad men had given him a sedative, on account of his temper. The other three turtles followed the human as she led them out of the building. That was when the alarm went off.

Now awake, Donatello sat up in bed, gasping for breath. Then he groaned. He had that dream again. This was was the sixth time he'd had this dream. The oddest thing was that it wasn't always the same thing. There was more each time.

__

Almost like a long-lost memory.

Donnie shook his head. He had never been a captive in a laboratory in his life.

"And thank God for that," he muttered.

Donnie knew he'd never be able to get back to sleep. Donnie sighed and set off toward the kitchen. To his surprise, Leonardo was already seated at the kitchen table. 

"Donnie," Leo was just as surprised to see him. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Bad dream," Donnie admitted.

"What about?"

"The four of us in a lab," Donnie replied. "We were in cages until - "

"Until a girl named Elena rescued us," Leo interupted, staring at his brother intently.

"How did you know?" Donnie stared, completely baffled.

"I've been having the same dream." 

The next morning, Leo and Donnie told Master Splinter about the dream they'd been sharing.

"But it doesn't make sense," Donnie said. "The four of us were barely ever topside when we were that young, let alone in a lab."

"But, you were, my sons," Splinter told them. "You were so little at the time and it was so tramatic that you forgot."

"How could we forget something that painful?" Raphael asked.

"When young minds are tramatized like that, the mind wil repress in the memories in orderto avoid shock."

"What happened, Master?" asked Leo.

"Once when you were five, I took you to a playground at night," Spinter explained. "The four of you were playing hide-and-seek. I was unaware that there was a man who had been watching us for some time. He hadn't seen what I really looked like, but had seen you. He tranquilized me and stole the four of you back to his laboratory in Westchester."

Leo shuddered, feeling a terror of long ago.

"I tried desperately to find you, but without success," Spinter continued. "About a week later, you were brought back by a fifteen-year-old named Elena Collins. Her father was the one who had abducted you. She inheirited her father's brains, but her mother's looks. She had a big heart as well as psycic potential. Anyway, she brought you back to me. She stayed with us about a month afterward. During that time, she gave you something I would never be able to provide."

"What's that?" Michalangelo asked curiously.

"A mother's love," Spinter replied. "That same love caused her to leave. She had sensed her father coming closer. Elena was like a mother bear. She would do anything to protect her cubs. She lured her father away, making him think that she had you with her."

"What happened to her?" Leo could feel tears streaming down his face, but he didn't care. He was slowly beginning to remember her. Images of her singing him to sleep, kissing him on his forehead, him playing with strands of her auburn hair, returned.

"I fear her father has captured her," Splinter was quietly sobbing as well. "Poor girl. She gave up any sense of normality she ever had when she rescued her. Yet, the day before she left, she told me that the four of you were the best thing that ever happened to her."

"Is she still alive?" Mikey asked softly and slowly, almost as if he was afraid of the answer. "With her father's temper, who can tell?" Splinter replied softly. 


	2. Reunions and Introductions

A/N So sorry this has taken so long

A/N So sorry this has taken so long. I've had computer problems galore. And camp.

A/N The Turtles, Casey Jones, and Splinter don't belong to me. Elena, Noah, and Tom do.

Chapter 2

Raphael was never one to cry, with or without his brothers. Mikey was the only one who really cried anymore, at even he did it rarelyy. However, the pain of losing their forgotten mother, resulted in all his brothers and even Splinter shedding a few tears. Raph took his grief out on the street punks he and his vigilante friend, Casey Jones, beat up. Raph's efforts to keep the secret from Casey did not go unnoticed, however.

"Did someone die or somethin'?" Casey asked bluntly as they walked away from boy they had saved from being mugged.

Raph looked at him sharply. "What makes you think that?"

"I've never seen you put so much . . . effort into this," Casey looked at his comrade, concerned. "Not even when Leo is bugging you. Is everything alright?"

Before Raph had a chance to a reply, they heard a woman scream. 

"Welcome to New York," Casey grumbled as they hurried off to save yet again another damsel in distress. "The City that never sleeps."

They had finally found the source of the voice. A man had a woman cornered in an alley, while holding a little boy at gunpoint. Neither vigilante could tell what the woman's face looked like, as a hood covered her head.

"Please don't hurt my son," the woman pleaded. "He's all I have left. Please."

"Just give me your money, lady or Junior will be chewing gum out of the back of his head," the man threatened.

Raph carefully aimed his sai at the man's hand and threw. The man gaped as the gun flew out of his hand. The boy wasted no time and ran to his mother. Casey and Raph immeadiantly jumped in. The man was knocked out immeadiantly.

There was a gust of wind and the woman's hood fell off. Raph found himself staring into hazel eyes, half-hidden by auburn hair.

_I know those eyes._

"Elena?" Raph gasped, taking off his hat.

Elena gasped. "Raphael?"

Despite Casey's protests, Raph took Elena down to the Lair.

"So," Casey said conversationally. "You know my green buddies."

"Yes," the sewers didn't bother Elena. She'd seen much worse. "It's been years since I've seen them though."

"Years?" Casey raised an eyebrow. "How many?"

"About twelve," Elena replied, picking her son up.

"You knew 'em when they were four?" Casey grinned at Raph, who was still watching Elena with no trace of his usual sarcasm or suspision. Instead, he looked four years old again.

"The guys are gonna be excited to see you again," Raph was grinning. "Master Splinter, too."

"How have you guys been, by the way?" Elena asked. "I've missed you."

"We've been okay, as far as mutated turtles go," Raph shrugged uneasily. 

Elena sensed his mood easily. "Um, are you all still there? Your brothers and Splinter? Nothing bad happened, did it?"

"We're still alive and kicking, if that's what you mean." Raph replied. "We even made a couple of human friends. That's Casey Jones. We meet about a year ago. Since then, he's been my best friend."

With her free arm, Elena shook Casey's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Elena."

Within minutes, they were back to the Lair.

"Put your hood back on, Elena," Raph ordered suddenly. "Casey, could you take the kid for a minute. I wanna surprise the guys."

Casey, having never seen Raph this excited about anything, was too started to argue. He took the kid as Raph led the woman inside. The other three brothers were seated around the table. Splinter came rushing in with a surprised and relieved look on his face. The remaining Turtles were to busy giving him amused looks to notice Splinter.

"Saved another damsel in distress, Raph?" Mike grinned.

"Did you have to bring her here?" Leo asked sternly.

"Yep," Raph grinned. "'Cause she ain't no ordinary damsel."

With that, he whipped off her hood. The Turtles stared in shock. They leapt from the table and all hugged her at once, causing her to fall down.

"Oooofff," Elena gasped. Then she laughed. Mikey helped her up, but kept hugging her.

"Give Elena room to breathe, Michelangelo," Splinter laughed.

"It's nice to see you again, Splinter," Elena smiled respectfully. "From the looks of it, you did a great job raising your sons."

The mutants glowed with pride.

"Thank you, Elena," Splinter replied as the two shook hands (or hand and paw). "I am glad you are safe."

"That's it!" Casey exploded, startling them all. "Who exactly are you?"

"You're the one who knows it best," Splinter told Elena. "Would you like to tell it while I make tea?"

"I'd love to," Elena grinned and sat down.

Mikey took the sleeping child from Casey. "Is he your son?"

"Yep," Elena smiled lovingly at him. "That's my son, Noah."

"Noah?" Splinter smiled, interested. "I seem you remember you telling me you liked the name Adam."

"I do. Noah was born on a boat. I thought the name fit."

"The story?" Casey prompted.

"Ah, yes. When the Turtles were little, my father, who was, at the time, a scientist at a lab, kidnapped them. I was fifteen at the time. I myself had been stolen from my mother as a young child because my father needed an heir. Although I wasn't allowed anything to do with my mother, I kept a stack of photos of her secret. As time went on, I slowly forgot the little things about Mom and resented my father for it. When the Turtles came, I formed a friendship with them. After a month of careful planning, I tried to rescue them. Of course, it didn't take the lab long to figure out what I was up to."

__

"Those sirens are for us," fifteen-year-old Elena urged. "We gotta keep moving."

She ran through the parking lot with four young mutants in tow.

"I'm tired," five-year-old Michelangelo whined.

"Just a little farther, honey," Elena murmured distractedly.

They came to the parking lot, where a bunch of company vans sat unused. She sprayed each Turtle with a perfume. Then she sprayed herself.

"What's that?" five-year-old Donetello asked, confused. 

"A neutralizer to a dog's smelling ability," Elena replied, opening the back door to one of the vans. "So they can't smell us."

The five of them climbed in and the "grown-up" of the group shut the door behind them.

"We're gonna have to sleep here tonight," Elena dug out a flashlight and went searchcing for blankets. "I need time to mend Raphael's wounds."

Elena only found two blankets. She gave one to the three unwounded brothers a blanket to sleep with. The girl set to work mending Raph. Because of Raphael's short temper and inability to submit to his captors, he had been "selected" to be the subject of the experiments that involved pain. What they ended ended up with was a scared and bruised little boy who still refused to surrender. Elena gazed at him fondly.

"Elena?" Mikey asked sleepily.

"What, sweetie?" Elena winced as she snapped his broken leg back into place. Raph moaned in his sleep.

"Tell us a story," Mikey begged.

"What about?" Elena got the materials out to make a cast around his leg.

"A kid who can defeat any bad guy," Leonardo said determinedly. "No matter how big and how many."

"That narrows it down," Elena chuckled as she wrapped Raphael's leg. "Have you ever heard the story of Peter Pan?"

"No," came the chorused reply.

"Boy, are you in for a treat." 

"Aw, that's so cute," Casey cooed, grinning at Raph.

"Shaddup before I pound your face in." Anyone who didn't know Raph well enough would think his tone as dangerous, but everyone in the room knew that it was relatively mild. Or as mild as Raph could get away with when slightly annoyed, anyway.

"What happened next?" Mikey hated it when people interrupted during a movie or a good story, and this was a story he didn't want to miss.

"I had the escape planned," Elena continued. "But you Turtles didn't know my plan. You got quite a surprise in the morning."

__

Elena had fallen asleep crosss-legged, with Raph's bad leg resting on hers. Needless to say, her muscles were sore the next morning. She awoke when the other three Turtles shook her awake.

"Elena," Leo whispered urgently. "Wake up."

"What?" Elena mumbled blearily.

"THere's someone outside, knocking," Donnie's eyes were as wide as saucers.

Elena sat straight up. There were three knocks, a pause, and then two more. Elena breathed a sigh of relief. "It's only Tom," she whispered.

"Who is Tom?" Leo asked confused.

"A friend who is gonna help us escape," Elena replied, opening the door. She grinned at the Turtles. "You didn't think a fifteen-year-old could do this on her own, didja?"

"I dunno," Mikey smiled his adorable smile. "Grown-ups can do lots of things, 'specially you, Elena."

"Suck up," Donnie muttered as Tom came in.

"Hey," Tom smiled, glancing at everyone. 

"Who are you?" Leo asked suspiciously.

"I'm Tom," the tall, elderly man replied. "I'm a friend of Elena's. I've known her since she was your age."

"Really?" Mikey asked, amazed that Elena was once their height and age.

"How come you're helping us escape?"

"Leonardo," Elena glared at the boy, a warning tone in her voice.

Leo cringed, despite his attempts to remain the cool and collected big brother. He had never really seen Elena mad at them before.

"It's okay," Tom shrugged easily, his eyes watching Leonardo warmly. "What's your name, young man?"

"Leonardo," Leo replied, still frowning.

"Are they your brothers, Leonardo?"

"Yes, sir. I'm the oldest."

"Would you do anything for them?"

"Yes, sir." Leo wasn't sure he liked where this was leading.

"I feel the same way about Elena. She's like a daughter to me. That's why I'm helping you escape."

Leo blinked. No threats about hurting his brothers? "Sorry about before. I don't know much about you, but I know enough about Elena. If she trusts you, so will I."

Elena smiled proudly at him. Leo basked under the silent praise.

"Well, you met Leonardo," Elena said after a few minutes of silence. "Those are his brothers Donnetello and Michelangelo."

"Hello," Donnie said shyly.

"Hi!" Mikey grinned.

"THe hurt one over here is their other brother, Raphael," Elena continued.

"What did those monsters do to him?" Tom asked, shocked, as he moved over toward Raph. "You did a great job bandaging him up, Elena.

Elena shrugged modestly. "I did what I could."

Tom grinned at the Turtles. "You're lucky to have someone as sweet as Elena helping you. Smart as a whip, that one."

Elena shifted uncomfotably. Then she grinned. "Enough of this mushy stuff. Let's get on the road!" 


	3. Emotional Trauma

Chapter Three

"Er, do you mind if I put Noah down to sleep somewhere?" Elena suddenly asked, jerking her captive audience out of the story. "The couch will be fine."

Mikey ran out to get a pillow and blanket out. Leo gently placed the small boy on the couch as Mikey added the pillow and blanket. Elena sat by him and looked down at him with a look of love to deep to fanthom. The Turtles watched silently as she kissed him on the forehead, each Turtle remembering that expression from when they were Noah's age.

The seven left the room to sit down in the kitchen. THere was an awkward silence.

"So what happened next?" Casey promted impatiently.

"We spent the night in the van," Elena gave Casey her odd calmly-amused glance. "Tom worked as a driver. He hid the five of us hidden in crates and propted Raph's bad leg on a small pillow. After we had traveled half an hour, he let us out. But have you ever had five-year-olds who have had to lie down for that long? It was chaos afterwards."

_"We're free!" young Mikey exclaimed. "Lord Almightly, we're free at last!"_

Donnie giggled.

"We're not free yet," little Leo told his younger brother sternly. "We still gotta long way ta go. Right?" He looked up at Tom and Elena for comfirmation. Tom nodded.

"Raph isn't up yet," Mikey asked, his joy overtaken with worry. "Is he gonna be okay, Elena?"

Elena picked Mikey up and placed him gently in her lap. "Of course," she replied, kissing him on the forehead. "It's just going to take a while. Now, listen boys, if we're going to get away from the Bad Place, we have to work together. THat means we each gotta do our part. Okay?"

The boys nodded.

"Good," Elena nodded. "You still have to stay in the van."

There were groans from the Turtles.

"I know it's tough," Elena put Mikey up and gazed lovingly at the three boys. "It's not fair, either. But you have to be brave. Will you do that for me? Be the brave men that I see in you every day."

The boys nodded reluctantly. 

"I'll make you a deal," Elena grinned. "You be good today and tonight I'll take you to a playground. And you can play untill three in the morning."

Much to her surprise, the boys looked like they wanted to cry.

"What's wrong?" Elena asked concerned.

"That's how they got us the first time," Mikey said quietly, starting to cry. "Master Splinter took us. See, we never get to go outside much."

Elena pulled all three Turtles in a tight bear hug. She finally let go when the Turtles stopped crying.

"Who's Master Splinter?" Elena asked.

"Our father," Leo said proudly. "He raised us. He's been teaching us to be ningas. We're going to defeat bad guys like the ones at the Bad Place on a daily basis when we're all grown up."

"I have no doubt about that, honey," Elena laughed knowingly. "Tell me more about your father." 

_"He's a rat," Mikey said simply._

"You mean like a traitor or something?" Elena was confused.

"No," Donnie explained. "He's a mutated rat just like we're mutated turtles."

_"Ah," Elena said. "Well, would you rather not go to a playground?"_

"We should go," Leo said firmly. "Or we'll fear playgrounds forever."

"Now there's something you don't hear every day," Tom laughed. "Let's get this show on the road!"

Tom got in the driver's seat and sped off while Elena sat in the back with the Turtles. 

"Where do you live with your father?" Elena asked.

"Underground," Mikey said simply.

"In the sewers," Elena looked slightly shocked.

"Yes," Leo looked up at the human girl uncertainly. "'Is that a bad thing?"

"Sewers aren't the cleanest places in the world," Elena replied. "So you boys live in the city?"

"WHat's a city?" Mikey asked.

"WHere you live, are there lots of tall buildings that seem to stretch as far as they eye can see," ELena explained. "They stretch so high, that they seem to touch the sky."

"Yep," Donnie affirmed. "We live in a city."

Elena looked up at Tom. "New York City it is."

"Do they know which Burrow?" Tom asked, looking at them through the rear-view mirror.

"What's the name of the playground Master Splinter took you to?" Elena asked, turning back to the boys.

"Don't know," Mikey gave his most boyishly innocent smile. "I was too busy playing."

"We're only five," Leo looked at the teenager apologetically. "We can we read some letters. I remember the sign, but I couldn't pronounce the words."

"Central Park," Donnie grinned proudly.

"Show-off," Mikey muttered.

"Manhattan, it is," Tom took off with an almightly lurch.

"Thanks for the warning," Elena muttered.

"Any time Lenie," Tom smirked, looking back at the girl.

"I hate it when you call me that," Elena grumbled.

After an hour, they went stopped at Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast. Raph woke up about half an hour later.

"Raph's up!" Mikey cried, hugging his brother tightly around the neck.

Needless to say, Raph quickly turned a lovely shade of blue.

"Micaelangelo," Elena yelled, startled. "Let go of him. He can't breathe."

Mikey quickly let go, looking up at Elena guiltily. Elena scooped him up and hugged him reassuringly. 

"Elena?" Raph asked weakly, a look of pain and terror in his eyes. "Where am I? What's going on?"

"Elena saved us from the Bad Place," Mikey informed his brother happily. "She's going to take us home!"

Elena put Mikey down and scooted over toward the injured mutant. "Leo, hand me a can of V-8."

Leo obideiantly retrieved the can. "How are you feeling, Raph?"

"I'm okay," Raph replied, trying his best to look brave and tough.

Elena opened the can and helpled Raph drink it. "It'll make you feel better, sweetie."

"Donnie," Elena continued to give orders. "Get me the First Aid kit. Leo, bring me the garbage can."

THeir garbage can was a big brown paper bag. THe two young turtles retrieved the items. Raph finished the V-8 and Elena tossed it in the garbage can.

"Raph," I'm going to need to change your bandages," Elena explained as she unwrpped the wrappings.

"This way, they won't get infected."

Shortly after she finished, Raph fell asleep again.

"He's going to be just fine," Elena assured the remaining brothers. "He needs his rest, so you're going to have to be very quiet. Understand?"

The boys nodded. At lunch, they went through the drive-though and got three happy meals, and two adult meals. Elena woke Raph up to give him more V-8. Then he fell back asleep.

"Why do they call it a Happy Meal?" Donnie asked.

"I have no idea," Elena replied as she bit into her burger.

"It doesn't make you feel any happier," Donnie mused.

"Hey, it's food," Mikey shrugged. "Food sure makes me happy."

Donnie and Leo rolled their eyes. Tom and Elena laughed.

""Good answer," ELena smiled, giving the youngest turtle a noogie. "Good answer."

Mikey gave his brothers a superior smirk.

Later on, Tom pulled the van over.

"I have to run a few errands," Elena told the Turtles as she got out. "I'll be back in a few hours. Tom is in charge. You'll be good boys, won't you?"

"I don't want you to go," Mikey cried, hugging Elena around the waist.

"I'll be back," Elena promised. "I have a very important job for my brave little ninjas. I need you to watch over Raphael. Can you do that for me."

Elena had the stangest ability to give out jobs and make them seem like the most important task on the face of the Earth.

"We will," Leo promised.

"If Tom tells me you've been good, I'll have a surprise for you when I get back," Elena added.

She kissed each Turtle on the forehead.

"Make sure Raph gets his liquids," Elena reminded Tom. "Boys, I don't think Raph has ever met Tom. Help Raph understand that Tommy-boy here is one of the good guys."

With that, she left. Tom pulled into the woods and parked the van there.

"Who's for stretching their legs?" TOm grinned as he got out to open the van door.

After playing Duck-Duck-Goose, helping Tom with Raph and a game of "Fox, Fox, what time is it?", they all got back in the van.

"It's time to pick up Elena," Tom said as the drove off.

Tom drove right back to where they dropped off Elena.

"How were they?" Elena asked as Tom opened the back door for her.

"Very well behaved," Tom replied.

"That means that you get the surprise," Elena smiled as she pulled out a small rectangualr object. "THis is called a Game-Boy. You can play video games on it."

Elena shoved a box into the far corner and put the two remaining boxes gently in front of her. After showing the boys how to play it, she opened the two remaining boxes. They were both filled with some kind of pie with cheese on it."

"This is called pizza," Elena grinned. "Eat up, boys. When you finish, you can take turns with the game- I need to talk to Tom for a minute."

The three boys ate their first pizzas. THey finished the entire first box. It was the best thing they had ever had.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Mikey asked as they ate.

"I dunno," Donnie replied in between bites. "Must be important."

Leo knew that look Mikey had on his face. "DOn't, Mikey. It's a private conversation. We shouldn't eavesdrop."

"Spoilsport," Mikey grumbled as he took another slice.

"ASnd don't eat so fast," Leo added sternly. "You'll get sick."

Mikey stuck his tongue out at his oldest brother, which was full of already-been-chewed food.

"Mikey," Leo groaned.

The younger brother just smiled impishly.

"Oh, I can't take it anymore," Mikey said dramaticly, after ten minutes of glancing back at the door.

With out another word, he opened the back door, and closed it quietly a second later. He had a shaken look on his face.

"Mikey, what's wrong?" Donnie asked, worried.

"Elena's crying," Mikey said softly. "I'm not so hungry anymore."

Leo put a comforting arm around his little brother. "I'm sure she's alright."

"Elena's supposed to be strong," Mikey sniffed. "What if she can't get us home? What if we never see Master Splinter again?"

At that moment, Elena came in through the door. She noticed Mikey right away.

"Honey, what's wrong, sweetie," Elena had that motherly, worried look on her face.

"I'm sorry, Elena," Mikey babbled, hugging Elena with all her might. "I saw you crying and I got scared."

"Oh, honey," Elena gently stroked his head gently until he calmed down.

A/N So SORRY it took so long to update. I've had a major case of writer's block. Like running into a brick wall continuously. Big headache.__


	4. Author's Note Please Read

Help!

I am planning to continue this story, but I am suffering from writer's block. Any ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Just post it on to the review as my e-mail no longer works. Thanks!

- EMY3K


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